A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display apparatus, and more particularly to a display apparatus especially adapted to display pairs of shoes in an upright position.
B. Brief Description of the Prior Art
For many years shoes have commonly been displayed in retail stores simply by placing the shoes on a horizontal shelf which is sometimes slanted to provide a better view of the shoes. To display the shoes in a more attractive manner, there have been in more recent years devices which mount the shoes to support brackets, which in turn are mounted to a center post. One such device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,425,564, Allsop, where there is shown a center post with a plurality of sets of vertically spaced mounting brackets. Each pair of shoes which is to be displayed is mounted to an individual support frame in a manner that the soles of the shoes of each pair are facing one another. Then the frame is positioned between a vertically adjacent pair of brackets so that each pair of shoes extends outwardly from the center post, with the top of each shoe facing laterally. A quite similar apparatus is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,695, Allsop, et al.
Another approach to displaying pairs of shoes by means of a center mounting structure is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,478,890, Allsop. This patent discloses a "lazy-Susan" shoe support where the shoes are mounted in holding frames which are, in turn, vertically positioned against side faces of the lazy-Susan structure.
While the patents noted above do provide quite desirable means for displaying shoes, it is believed that there is also a requirement to provide display apparatus which is especially adapted to display shoes in a manner that the pairs of shoes are placed in side-by-side relationship with the upper portion of the shoes facing upwardly, with this apparatus being sufficiently versatile to properly support and display shoes of greatly varying styles, sizes and configurations. It is an object of the present invention to satisfy this requirement in an especially effective manner.
With regard to the manner in which display units of the present invention are mounted to a center post, the following patents, while not relating directly to shoe display apparatus, are noted in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 723,677, Kade, shows a bracket, such as that used to support a shelf, having a pair of mounting arms which fit in tongue-and-groove relationship with a support structure. A quite similar arrangement is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 756,648, also issued to Kade. Another device for mounting a bracket, such as a shelf bracket, is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,273,847, Berman, where a pair of hook-like extensions fit into matching slots in a mounting structure. A cam lock is provided to hold the bracket firmly in place.
With regard to the securing device in the present invention which holds the heel portions of the shoes, the following patents are noted. U.S. Pat. No. 3,619,837, Smolka, discloses an arrangement where there is a rubber band, doubled over on itself, engaging a securing device in a shoe tree. The two sections of the rubber band are arranged to pull in parallel relationship. U.S. Pat. No. 2,566,656, David, shows a tension spring which pulls a heel securing device into securing engagement. U.S. Pat. No. 2,208,002, Hartner, shows a shoe tree where an elongate rubber band is looped around a heel portion of a shoe.
The following patents are noted as showing various means of locking a mounting device. U.S. Pat. No. 2,859,710, Elsner, shows a mounting member which is rotated sideways to fit into recesses in a channel. U.S. Pat. No. 3,811,565, Boegehold, discloses a somewhat sophisticated arrangement where there are two plates, both of which fit into a channel (shown more clearly in FIG. 4 of the Boegehold patent). The two plates are moved vertically with respect to one another so that the ball elements which fit in recesses between the two plates are caused to wedge against opposite sides of their recesses to force the two plates apart and thus cause firm engagement with the channel member in which the plates are mounted. U.S. Pat. No. 3,462,110, Cheslock, shows a mounting device where there is a bolt with an oblong head which is placed in an upright channel. The oblong head of the bolt becomes wedged in the channel simply by tightening the nut which causes the head to rotate sideways into a wedging position. U.S. Pat. No. 3,415,477, Kondur, Jr., discloses a cam member which is urged by a spring toward a locking position against the sides of a channel in which it is mounted.